Hack to the Future

Hacking real E.ON data with E.ON Netz Community

27. September 2017 Berlin

Being a buzzword in the startup community, hackathon is for sure a must-do for every creative head. Following the buzz, we partnered with E.ON Netz Community and invited analysts, developers, managers and energy enthusiasts to Industriesalon Schoeneweide on the 21st – 23rd of September. Not to follow the trend, but rather bring a game changer to the energy community – real E.ON data.

After doing a number of workshops within the company, E.ON Netz Community understood: internal powers have to be combined with external ones – only this way new business models can be created. And not only that. There are pools of customers, smart meter and grid data that can be used to improve services and combat challenges that energy industry is facing.

A very international audience has gathered at the location. Entrepreneurs from Germany, Greece, India and Romania have formed five groups to develop data-related solutions that focused on e-mobility, predictive analytics and power storage systems. “We provided participants with solar, wind, smart meter and customer-related data”, says E.ON data analyst Dr. Arne-Rasmus Dräger. “The teams were all highly motivated and some showed some excellent understanding not only of the business processes but also of data analytics and data science.”

Hackathon is about learning, developing and of course winning. This time three awards were introduced: Most Innovative, Public Choice and Best Overall. After long discussions a highly respected jury involving Dr. Malte Sunderkötter (Member of the Executive Board, e.kundenservice Netz GmbH), Dr. Alexander Montebaur (Chairman of the Board, e.dis AG) and Manfred Paasch (Member of the Board, e.dis AG), revealed their verdict: the title of the Best Overall was earned by BeSwiched. The prize for the Most Innovative idea was given to a startup from Greece Heliix and the Public Choice award went to a newly built project CrowdCharge.

Memories are still fresh, sleeping hours regained and ideas about a next hackathon already being born. No need to ask – yes, we will do it again. Helge Siege, one of the main organiser of the hackathon, confirms: “The format convinced us that it is not only possible to develop business models in a very short period of time, but also create real prototypes. We would like to be able to integrate the projects into our business and keep organizing hackathons on a regular basis.”